[silk] Flights to Switzerland from India
So what's the best way to get to Zurich from India? Nobody except for Swiss Air offers a direct flight, and I'm not very eager to fly bankrupt European airlines that offer all the goodness of government run, union backed efficiency. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Riya moves back to USA
On 4/26/07, Madhu Menon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The CEO of Riya.com has a blog post about how he's moving from Bangalore back to California because the wages in Bangalore have shot up like nuts: http://munjal.typepad.com/recognizing_deven/2007/04/episode_26_indi.html Companies looking for top talent can't also afford to enjoy the advantages of cost arbitrage. If you are truly looking for top talent, you hire the best you can find, where ever they are. They will always have the option to relocate to the US or similar wage band country, and hence they aren't going to come cheap. What works for code factories doesn't necessarily apply for boutique product companies. Cheeni
Re: [silk] in the eye of the beholder
On 4/24/07, Lawnun [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] On a side note, does anyone ever speculate that sometimes the price of these works of art are high both due to the artistic merit of the piece, and the status of the prior owner? When I read the economist piece, it struck me that part of the allure for both Sotheby's and to that extent, The Economist, was the fact that you had a consignment by one of the richest men in America. Sure, the artist only got paid $10,000 or less. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Where is the US economy heading?
On 4/28/07, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://bullnotbull.com/archive/dow13k-1.html This is a description that would fit the current state of the Indian economy rather well. In an inflation ridden India of first time frivolous consumers and debtors, it seems difficult to afford a decent urban home and a primary school education on an honest income. The US maybe headed for a fall, but a similar fall in India will have rather more pronounced and dire consequences. The banking and financial system in India is weak, without being backed in any serious measure by economic or military might. A fall in property prices, the US economy or foreign investment is sure to bring doom both to the foolish debtors and the wise who stayed away from debt. I don't have much confidence in our TV reporters, but one statistic I heard yesterday of 9 out of 10 car buyers taking out a loan to finance their purchase strikes me as about right. I am currently shopping for a car, I have been so for the past several months. It has never been an urgent necessity for us, since my wife and I are rather content to make our way around on public transport after we sold our last car. Nevertheless, having made up my mind to put an end to procrastination, I visited the local Tata showroom for a looksie, intent on getting a cheap set of wheels. I was amazed at the number of new cars being bought on a rather ordinary and not particularly auspicious and god-friendly Sunday. The sales personnel took a good 20 minutes to notice that I had entered the premises, which left me rather happy since I could wander around and inspect the vehicles without a nosy, ignorant salesman hindering my progress. The salesman who finally accosted me was more interested in selling me a car loan, than in selling me the car. This to my mind strikes the most discordant note of all, the financial industry is so heavily leveraged on foolish property and consumable debts that it risks the economic stability of India. The salesman was rather crest fallen when I announced that I had no need for a loan. The fall in his interest levels was rather dramatic as he abandoned me for yet another 15 or so minutes as he wrapped up some potentially cozy loan deal. In the end my visit turned out to be in vain since I was rather definitely told that they had a policy against allowing test drives in the dangerous evening traffic. By any measure the value that Indian cities seem to offer in lifestyle benefits, living space, property ownership and civilization seems rather scarce. On an idle Saturday afternoon I must have done some thinking for the idea that I pay more than half of my income in taxes has come to be rather firmly implanted in my mind. It's not hard to get at such a figure when you compute my basket of direct and indirect taxes - namely, income tax at 33.33%, sales tax on anything I consume at 12.5%, miscellaneous upstream taxes such as excise and customs, and property and road taxes. For this I don't get medical insurance, nor do I get the right to live in a strife and peril free country. I have bad traffic, chaotic infrastructure, inadequate supplies of dirty water and a corrupt government that beggars contempt. Were I to be rash enough to splurge on a house of my own at the present moment, it would cost me a rather large fortune, financed no doubt by usurious debt. Debt which I would possibly find hard to repay if the Indian economy were to hit murky waters. Debt that would be in vain were I to lose my land to some fancy record keeping at the land records office, no doubt inspired by the invisible and sometimes all too thoroughly visible hands of the land mafia. Debt that would make me look like a fool when the property price like water finds its true level. Wise men have observed land is always a good investment for they don't make more of it any more! Under ordinary circumstances that would hold, but what we have in India is a spiraling inflation of urban land prices while rural land continues to lie untouched by the Indian economic miracle unless it has some potential of touching the margins of our ever expanding urban zones. Cities unlike our planet with its arguably finite quota of land can be created by mere men in rather short time spans with a stroke of a pen. All that an Indian city seems to need is a good road or two, meager quantities of civic infrastructure and power and a legislation declaring some lands as urban and the rest as SEZs (special economic zones). Which kind of brings me to the final note of doom that I think about during the summer power cuts since I don't own a car or I'd have those thoughts at the fuel pumps as well. Energy is central to our existence, and the smart economies have squirreled away these essential resources through a combination of forethought and action, whether it be through wars or industrial take overs backed by military might. India on the other hand has a rather tenuous grasp over a vaporware
Re: [silk] Where is the US economy heading?
On 5/1/07, Pavithra Sankaran [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] This is completely untrue. In and around Bandipur where I work, which is 80 kms from anywhere, land situated 2 kms from the highway, accessible only through a dirt track, sells for 5-600,000 Rs. an acre. Merely two years ago, it was 75,000 if there was water below. Granted there are exceptions. Bandipur is a nice weekend jungle getaway that's within driving distance of Bangalore and Mysore where the urban affluence exists. The key observation is that the rural land hasn't appreciated because of wealth created by the rural people, for example, farmers aren't competing to buy up their neighbors plots because they are seeing a sugarcane bubble. I'd like to show you plenty of land in North Karanataka that has not seen rain in many many months and has absolutely no tourism nor industrial value and remains barren and unappreciated. Bandipur is merely a minor side effect of urban affluence. Cheeni
[silk] To Treat the Dead
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18368186/site/newsweek/ To Treat the Dead The new science of resuscitation is changing the way doctors think about heart attacks―and death itself. By Jerry Adler Newsweek May 7, 2007 issue - Consider someone who has just died of a heart attack. His organs are intact, he hasn't lost blood. All that's happened is his heart has stopped beating―the definition of clinical death―and his brain has shut down to conserve oxygen. But what has actually died? Story continues below ↓advertisement As recently as 1993, when Dr. Sherwin Nuland wrote the best seller How We Die, the conventional answer was that it was his cells that had died. The patient couldn't be revived because the tissues of his brain and heart had suffered irreversible damage from lack of oxygen. This process was understood to begin after just four or five minutes. If the patient doesn't receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation within that time, and if his heart can't be restarted soon thereafter, he is unlikely to recover. That dogma went unquestioned until researchers actually looked at oxygen-starved heart cells under a microscope. What they saw amazed them, according to Dr. Lance Becker, an authority on emergency medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. After one hour, he says, we couldn't see evidence the cells had died. We thought we'd done something wrong. In fact, cells cut off from their blood supply died only hours later. But if the cells are still alive, why can't doctors revive someone who has been dead for an hour? Because once the cells have been without oxygen for more than five minutes, they die when their oxygen supply is resumed. It was that astounding discovery, Becker says, that led him to his post as the director of Penn's Center for Resuscitation Science, a newly created research institute operating on one of medicine's newest frontiers: treating the dead. Biologists are still grappling with the implications of this new view of cell death―not passive extinguishment, like a candle flickering out when you cover it with a glass, but an active biochemical event triggered by reperfusion, the resumption of oxygen supply. The research takes them deep into the machinery of the cell, to the tiny membrane-enclosed structures known as mitochondria where cellular fuel is oxidized to provide energy. Mitochondria control the process known as apoptosis, the programmed death of abnormal cells that is the body's primary defense against cancer. It looks to us, says Becker, as if the cellular surveillance mechanism cannot tell the difference between a cancer cell and a cell being reperfused with oxygen. Something throws the switch that makes the cell die. With this realization came another: that standard emergency-room procedure has it exactly backward. When someone collapses on the street of cardiac arrest, if he's lucky he will receive immediate CPR, maintaining circulation until he can be revived in the hospital. But the rest will have gone 10 or 15 minutes or more without a heartbeat by the time they reach the emergency department. And then what happens? We give them oxygen, Becker says. We jolt the heart with the paddles, we pump in epinephrine to force it to beat, so it's taking up more oxygen. Blood-starved heart muscle is suddenly flooded with oxygen, precisely the situation that leads to cell death. Instead, Becker says, we should aim to reduce oxygen uptake, slow metabolism and adjust the blood chemistry for gradual and safe reperfusion. Researchers are still working out how best to do this. A study at four hospitals, published last year by the University of California, showed a remarkable rate of success in treating sudden cardiac arrest with an approach that involved, among other things, a cardioplegic blood infusion to keep the heart in a state of suspended animation. Patients were put on a heart-lung bypass machine to maintain circulation to the brain until the heart could be safely restarted. The study involved just 34 patients, but 80 percent of them were discharged from the hospital alive. In one study of traditional methods, the figure was about 15 percent. Becker also endorses hypothermia―lowering body temperature from 37 to 33 degrees Celsius―which appears to slow the chemical reactions touched off by reperfusion. He has developed an injectable slurry of salt and ice to cool the blood quickly that he hopes to make part of the standard emergency-response kit. In an emergency department, you work like mad for half an hour on someone whose heart stopped, and finally someone says, 'I don't think we're going to get this guy back,' and then you just stop, Becker says. The body on the cart is dead, but its trillions of cells are all still alive. Becker wants to resolve that paradox in favor of life.
Re: [silk] Fwd: Did you happen to catch the UFO?
On 6/1/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I seem to recall some small item in the newspaper saying this was a hoax, but can't find it now. Does anybody here know more? Oooh... well isn't there supposed to be some historian school of thought that records space ship flights in ancient India? http://ufo.whipnet.org/creation/ancient.aircraft/india.html http://ufo.whipnet.org/creation/india.4000BC.ufo/ http://ufo.whipnet.org/creation/ancient.aircraft/vimanas.html :-) Cheeni
[silk] Living adventurously...
A good yarn has always been worth cash money, no? Cheeni http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/01/travel/escapes/01Lecture.html?ei=5087%0Aem=en=6d0cd0d754c72b7cex=1180843200pagewanted=print June 1, 2007 If Adventure Is the Topic, the Talk Isn't Cheap By JOE ROBINSON THE 19th-century British explorer Richard Burton once said that the reason he tempted death in searching for the source of the Nile or by penetrating the inner reaches of Arabia disguised as a Pathan was because the devil drives. Today, the response might be: Need material for the next lecture. Though Columbus and Vasco da Gama were too early to cash in, adventurers in more recent times have found that the risks they take on far-flung exploits can pay off — if they live to tell the tale. For Henry Morton Stanley, Ernest Shackleton and contemporary risk takers like the climber Ed Viesturs, having a tangle with the back of beyond can be a gateway to the adventure lecture circuit, a tradition that has become especially lucrative in recent years. While most of the blank spots on the map have been filled in since Stanley lectured about his expedition that found the Scottish missionary David Livingstone in Africa in 1871, demand for vicarious thrills from the outer edge of adventure has grown — along with the production values. Shackleton regaled thousands at the Royal Albert Hall with primitive black-and-white lantern slides to chronicle his remarkable escape from Antarctica in the early years of the 20th century, but today's adventurers can punch up the presentation with video clips, animated PowerPoint displays and digital mapping. The arsenal allows explorers to transport audiences to polar blizzards or Himalayan summits with the touch of a laptop. Armed with business presentation tools, adventurers have been able to blaze a trail into the world of corporate conferences and paydays that Burton surely never imagined. The top names in the field can make $10,000 to $40,000 a talk — a long way from the token honorariums of musty explorers' clubs. There are a few speakers' bureaus that book only spinners of adventure yarns. At the Everest Speakers Bureau in Knoxville, Tenn., 90 percent of the talent has climbed Mount Everest. Every year we're doing more events and growing in gross dollars, said Todd Greene, who with George Martin started Everest four years ago and whose clients include Peter Hillary, son of Edmund Hillary and himself a climber, and Mr. Viesturs, the first American to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter (that's nearly 26,300 feet) peaks. Demands from businesses for life-or-death lessons on overcoming adversity and successful risk taking have transformed the adventure lecture circuit from a sideline to a financial mainline for the professional explorer, a career that has not been a route to gainful employment in the past. Speaking is pretty much how I make my living, said the polar explorer Ann Bancroft, who can command $20,000 for a talk and has done presentations for companies like General Mills, Pfizer and Best Buy. In 2001, Ms. Bancroft and Liv Arnesen became the first women to ski and sail across the Antarctic landmass. How successful you're going to be as a professional explorer is a function of how well you can share the experience with others — the visceral adventure of it and the wisdom and knowledge you can distill out of it, said Dan Buettner, a Minneapolis-based cyclist who turned epic journeys from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego and around the perimeter of Africa into an adventure-fueled education company. In February Mr. Buettner led an expedition to Nicoya, Costa Rica, where he and a team of scientists backed by National Geographic uncovered a local population with the longest average lifespan (people there in their 60's can reasonably expect to see 90) in the Western Hemisphere. The journey was part of the Blue Zones project to seek out places where people live the longest and healthiest. It has expanded Mr. Buettner's range as a speaker into the world of health and longevity. Mr. Buettner has been equally intrepid in melding exploration with technology. Educators were posting his expedition dispatches on the Internet as early as 1992, and in the middle of the decade, he began a series of interactive journeys that allowed schoolchildren to participate in his trips via class computers, voting on routes and delving into ancient riddles like the demise of the Mayan civilization. I think the days where you show up with a slide projector are over, Mr. Buettner said. The adventurer has to bring the full complement of production values to compete with the TV, Imax films and Web feeds. Mr. Buettner uses a professional programmer to produce his presentations, which include images from National Geographic photographers and video clips. In Stanley's day, it was enough to come back with the stories and all or most limbs attached and a few grainy, highly posed black-and-whites from impossibly distant lands. His lecture
Re: [silk] aqvavit
On 6/13/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Udhay Shankar N wrote: Zero B works by using a resin impregnated with iodine. See http://www.zerobonline.com/products.html Zero B's made by a company called Ion Exchange India Ltd .. and does have ion exchange products, only the lower end one has the Iodine resine thingy. Also see, http://www.eurekaforbes.com/aboutus/popup.htm How does this differ from say, http://www.eurekaforbes.com/products/product.php?catid=35prid=209 Is there any appreciable difference in the water quality ? Cheeni
Re: [silk] [Fwd: spamhaus.org blocklists a bsnl mailserver due to spam from Kalpesh Sharma]
So does a black list for these fools exist outside of our collective minds? It irks me that mediocrity is a much rewarded trait in India. In other news, I read somewhere that One night @ the call centre is one of the best Indian novels to come out in recent times. Huh? Cheeni On 6/12/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.spamhaus.org/sbl/sbl.lasso?query=SBL55460 Kalpesh Sharma, if you will recall, is another wannabe elite ethical hacker, just like Ankit Fadia was (though that Fadia kid has kind of faded out of public memory for now, thank god) Note - the [EMAIL PROTECTED] address in the from belongs to a spammer called Sudhakar Jaani that we had earlier blocked for sending out spam emails marketing a so called ethical hacking courses by this Kalpesh Sharma. And http://kalpeshsharma.blogspot.com/ has a lot of random correspondence with the limca book of records staff where Jaani is cc'd in emails that Sharma is sending the limca staff, disputing the ankit fadia record listing [that Fadia actually a record to his name is a telling comment on the accuracy or use of this record book, but that's not germane to this discussion..] Interesting circus, this, I must say. suresh
Re: [silk] Audiophile advice
On 6/14/07, Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 6/14/07, Aditya Kapil [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am planning to make a fairly hefty investment into an audio component system. May I interest you in platinum-plated hi-fidelity speaker cables and a lightly-used bridge in San Francisco? :-) Wait, there's a deal closer to home, I'd like to sell him a minaret not too far from his home, heck I'll throw in the other 3 minarets for free if he'll call in the next 5 minutes. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Audiophile advice
On 6/14/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thursday 14 Jun 2007 7:44 pm, Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: Wait, there's a deal closer to home, I'd like to sell him a minaret not too far from his home, heck I'll throw in the other 3 minarets for free if he'll call in the next 5 minutes. Do these minarets have speakers on them by any chance? Maybe he can put those new speakers on the minarets. Well I am told the minarets have great acoustic properties...would be one hell of an amplifier. Cheeni
Re: [silk] google looking for subpoena compliance legal assistant
On 6/12/07, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ...Written and spoken fluency in Mandarin, Cantonese or Japanese a plus.[1] #include not-speaking-for-my-employer.h #include not-speaking-for-my-past-employers.h I have been with organizations in the past that have handled far more sensitive data with astronomically less regard for privacy and security. The privacy community should really go after the bigger offenders of which there are many. Banks, accountants, governments... Cheeni
Re: [silk] Good Indian restaurants in Northern Virginia/DC?
On 6/12/07, Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 5/30/07, Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What is the deal with the mangoes anyway? Why aren't they available in the markets yet? I am sick of Kent and want some fleshy Malgova. The desi list at work is abuzz with news. Apparently the first batch of mangoes arrived in the Bay Area over the weekend and there was some healthy profiteering going on - incidents of people paying $4 for each mango were reported. I paid 50 rupees for a mango only last week, surely this is a common phenomenon? And it was so until I landed in Madras yesterday and found the going rate for a dozen mangoes was 80 rupees. I feel cheated. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Good Indian restaurants in Northern Virginia/DC?
The most common variety is the Banganapalli. They taste damn fine; I can't really justify the prices I paid in hyderabad. In general Madras appears to be a great consumer economy. On 6/18/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Srini Ramakrishnan wrote [at 10:01 AM 6/18/2007] : I paid 50 rupees for a mango only last week, surely this is a common phenomenon? And it was so until I landed in Madras yesterday and found the going rate for a dozen mangoes was 80 rupees. I feel cheated. Which mango? The rate in Bangalore is anywhere from Rs 40 to Rs 100 per kilo, depending on the breed. Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
[silk] Just another forward?
This could be just another of those hopeless email forwards that don't contain a shred of truth, but I find it rather hopeless for our country that this scenario sounds all too possible. We do indeed have a systemic break down of this nation where the morality of the government is constantly suspect, and the safety of its citizens is not even worth a wager. Cheeni -- Forwarded message -- From: To: Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 09:13:00 + Subject: FW: Be careful .. Airports in India FYI.. Dear All, Be Careful At the Indian Airports. This is a well organized conspiracy by Indian Immigration, Police, Customs and Air India staff with networking at all the Indian International Airports. Be watchful when ever you give your passport to Immigration/ Customs/Air India staff. The passport can be easily tampered and can create trouble to you. They have found easy way of making money from NRIs. This is the way it works:- At the time of the passenger's departure, if the passenger is not looking at the officer while he is stamping the exit, the officer very cleverly tears away one of the page from the passport. When the passenger leaves the immigration counter, the case is reported on his computer terminal with full details. Now all over India they have got full details of the passenger with Red Flag flashing on the Passport number entered by the departure immigration officer. They have made their money by doing above. On arrival next time, he is interrogated. Subject to the passenger's period of stay abroad, his income and standing etc., the price to get rid of the problem is settled by the Police and Immigration people . If someone argues, his future is spoiled because there are always some innocent fellows who think the honesty is the basis of getting justice in India . Please advise every passenger to be careful at the airport. Whenever they hand over the passport to the counters of Air India , or immigration or the customs, they must be vigilant, should not remove eyes from the passport, even if the officer in front tries to divert their attention. Also, please pass this information to all friends, media men and important politicians. Every month 20-30 cases are happening all over India to rob the NRIs the minute he lands. Similar case has happened with Aramco's Arifuddin. He was traveling with his family. They had six passports They got the visa of America and decided to go via Hyderabad from Jeddah. They reached Hyderabad Stayed about a month and left for the States. When they reached the States, the page of the American visa on his wife's passport was missing. At the time of departure from Hyderabad it was there, the whole family had to return to Hyderabad helplessly. On arrival at Bombay back, they were caught by the police and now it is over 2 months, they are running after the Police, Immigration officers and the Courts. On going in to details with him, he found out the following: One cannot imagine, neither can believe, that the Indian Immigration dept can play such a nasty game to harass the innocent passengers. All the passengers travelling to fro India via Bombay and Hyderabad must be aware of this conspiracy. Every month 15 to 20 cases are taking place, at each mentioned airport, of holding the passengers in the crime of tearing away the passport pages. On interviewing some of them, none of them was aware of what had happened. They don't know why, when and who tore away the page from the middle of the passport. One can imagine the sufferings of such people at the hands of the immigration, police and the court procedures in India after that. The number of cases is increasing in the last 2-3 years. People who are arriving at the immigration, they are questioned and their passports are being held and they have to go in interrogations. Obviously, the conspiracy started about 2 to 3 years ago, now the results are coming.\Some of the Air India counter staff too is involved in this conspiracy. KINDLY SEND THIS TO AS MANY AS YOUR FRIENDS ACROSS THE WORLD AND ALSO REQUEST THEM TO CHECK THE PASSPORT AT THE CHECKING COUNTERS AND BEFORE LEAVING THE AIRPORT Thanks regards Ruchi Chhatwal Executive Secretary A R I C E N T Electronic City, Plot 17 Sector18 Gurgaon, Hayrana - 122015, INDIA Main +91 124 234 x 3226 Fax +91 124 4095915
Re: [silk] Just another forward?
On 6/20/07, Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] I have traveled to and from India for the last 14 years and this has _never_ happened to me. My interactions with airline, customs and immigration officials have been uniformly pleasant. Tch, tch, they've been slipping up. The Customs didn't shake you down ever? They've hit me for a bribe almost every time I've traveled; I've never had to pay but they have always shaken the tree a bit to see if any fruit will drop. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Audiophile advice
The HK looks really great, not sure if the same sound can't be had from a cheaper unit. My dad has these, and they are about Rs. 1000-1500, http://www.intextechnologies.com/dproduct.asp?cat=Electronicssub=Subwoofer%202.1 On 6/20/07, Aditya Kapil [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: These are really nice. Rs 6800. http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail.aspx?cat=MMEprod=SOUNDSTICKSIIsType=PCS Adit. On 6/20/07, Abhijit Menon-Sen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I need some anti-audiophile advice.
Re: [silk] The Demise Of The Dollar
On 6/12/07, Binand Sethumadhavan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 04/06/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/KuwaitKicksSandOnTheDollar.aspx The U.S. dollar took a big hit last week. From Kuwait. On May 20, Kuwait stopped pegging its currency, the dinar, to the U.S. dollar. Related? http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jun/11dollar.htm I don't understand enough of economics to say whether this is all believable. So, while the idea of justice being served in the end is rather heart warming; it seldom works that way where the powerful are concerned. Agreed that the Americans are piss poor imperialists, and have been blundering all over the landscape trying to wield their power with incompetence. But, even for Duhbya, letting the dollar collapse would take remarkable effort. Maybe they should turn over their money to the Brits and their guns to Israel. At least they would be put to good use. The British spent their ill gotten imperialist fortunes profligately, and oh yeah they are suffering s much today. Really, the Chartered accountant from Chennai should go back to counting numbers, and not gaze too much into the crystal ball. feh!
Re: [silk] The Demise Of The Dollar
Blatant imperialism may be in bad form these days, but bullets and bombs still kill, and there are always Machiavellian mandarins that will advocate still more jackboot diplomacy. The US doesn't make its share of contributions to the UN, nor to global warming. What makes you think they will fear their creditors? Who do you think can cast the first stone? China? They like Taiwan and Tibet too much. Cheeni On 6/20/07, Badri Natarajan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Agreed that the Americans are piss poor imperialists, and have been blundering all over the landscape trying to wield their power with incompetence. But, even for Duhbya, letting the dollar collapse would take remarkable effort. Srini, What is your point? That despite all their economic mismanagement and the ground realities pointed out in the two articles mentioned, the US/world will simply not let the dollar collapse? If so, how will they achieve it? By building the dam ever higher? Badri
Re: [silk] The Demise Of The Dollar
On 6/20/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: [ on 05:53 PM 6/20/2007 ] [...] And what does the last sentence mean, as well? That Taiwan and Tiber are at military risk? Explain, please. I'll have to wait for the weekend before I can spend any more time on this thread; but no I am not talking of an outright military confrontation. Cheeni
Re: [silk] American Class Divisions Through Facebook and MySpace
On 6/26/07, Ramakrishnan Sundaram [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: -BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA256 http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html I kinda made a similar point (with what is known in Indian parlance as a lot of masala :-)) on my blog about a year ago. Of course, the piece is not empirically backed, it's a blog. http://sriniram.livejournal.com/14561.html Cheeni
Re: [silk] The Demise Of The Dollar
On 6/22/07, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 6/20/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: [ on 05:53 PM 6/20/2007 ] [...] And what does the last sentence mean, as well? That Taiwan and Tiber are at military risk? Explain, please. I'll have to wait for the weekend before I can spend any more time on this thread; but no I am not talking of an outright military confrontation. Ok, I decided to wait this out over the weekend since I was not sure it was worth my time to piss off people who want to bet cash money over a mailing list thread :-) But in the end, it's just a mailing list on the Internet, and no one should take it all that seriously - so here goes, I will try to explain my stand in a more comprehensible fashion. I like the US as much as a man can like a country; it's been a great place to live in, and I'd like to see the US economy to continue to do well; since change usually upsets a lot of things. But that said, there will be a day when there will be a better economy than the US, and it could just be that the fading of the petro-dollar is an indicator of such a change. Under the assumption that the fall of the dollar (and therefore the US economy) is underway, one conjectures as to the possible reactions of the US government to turn the tide. Given that the US is a major military power, and a powerful figure on many major international forums, it would be a waste of a very valuable bargaining position to not bring it to use. China, it has been pointed out is a major holder of US government treasury bonds and could cause a run on the US economy by cashing in the investments and trade deficit. First off, if the Chinese want their money back, they would do well to not hurt the US economically; a bankrupt US is not a country that can pay back a large loan. OTOH, China's strategic position with regard to its neighbors, and recently annexed provinces is not very strong. This maybe deliberately so; since China seems to be comfortable with playing for high stakes over a long term. Tibet and Taiwan are the examples I have in mind. Tibet's acquisition was a barely concealed act of imperialist annexation. As much as China would like to claim it otherwise, there is too much evidence against them. Nevertheless the international community is a silent spectator that won't protest too much; and will probably remain so for a while. China probably needs a few more years to completely stamp out the idea of a free Tibet, while it carries out PR and political exercises in cultural integration and ownership like for example, the railway line to Lhasa, or the naming of streets in prominent western cities like Shanghai after Tibetian themes. It would be hardly difficult for the US to bring more focus on to the struggle for Tibetian independence; they could begin with increased political attention on the subject with the comfort that they could proceed all the way to sending in a liberating force. It needn't ever get that far; Tibet is much more important to China than a foreign trade debt. China treats Taiwan as a yet to be annexed portion of mainland China; I wouldn't be surprised if in the minds of the Chinese mandarins (!) Taiwan is treated no differently from Hong Kong. Here too the US could make things rather queer for the Chinese government by say increasing the token troop presence in Taiwan and posturing very strongly against the Chinese intimidation of Taiwan. There really is no need to engage in an outright war; but certainly the American imperialist tool chest is well stocked even if the treasury isn't, and it would be only reasonable to expect the US to use whatever gets them the maximum benefit from China or any other nation. Cheeni
Re: [silk] The Demise Of The Dollar
On 6/26/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: China treats Taiwan as a yet to be annexed portion of mainland China; I wouldn't be surprised if in the minds of the Chinese mandarins (!) Taiwan is treated no differently from Hong Kong. Here too the US could make things rather queer for the Chinese government by say increasing the token troop presence in Taiwan and posturing very strongly against the Chinese intimidation of Taiwan. Right. You want to read Tom Clancy's The Bear and the Dragon and comment further? Should be interesting - a nice combo of fantasy politics that just might gel with that prediction you made above. So, what makes you so sure this is fantasy? Cheeni
Re: [silk] Bugs in Intel dual core processors?
On 6/28/07, Vinayak Hegde [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 6/28/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Lifted from elsewhere http://marc.info/?l=openbsd-miscm=118296441702631 http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=40567 There have been bugs before on Intel Processors. The most Interestingly I've heard that the Macbook Pro C2Ds aren't affected. Cheeni
Re: [silk] 1 lakh car spurs environment worries
On 7/1/07, Eugen Leitl [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sun, Jul 01, 2007 at 11:04:58PM +0530, Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: [...] People in Russia were saving for a decade or more to buy a car. Most Indians aren't, they are signing their lives away. Cheeni
Re: [silk] 1 lakh car spurs environment worries
On 7/2/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 07:00 AM 7/2/2007, Udhay Shankar N wrote: I'm pretty sure an electric scooter for half a kilobuck plus PV array could give you a 50 km commute with a daytime's charge. One data point: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1635898.cms And another: http://www.induselectrans.com/ India has a power shortage that will only get worse. By most estimates some 50% of India's current energy needs aren't being met. The cities rob power from the towns, the towns rob power from the villages. The villages suffer in darkness for the most part - but of course they have free power - if and when it is available. Of course if they are fortunate, they steal power from the power grid whose pylons criss-cross the country side to power the cities. See, http://iht.com/articles/2007/05/04/news/india.php Also see, (subscription article): http://economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displayStory.cfm?story_id=4423894subjectid=348879 Whose full text found here via a Google search: http://www.india-forum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1107pid=40342mode=threadedshow=st=; Cheeni
Re: [silk] A query....
#inherits previous disclaimers There's a paper floating around (can't get to it right now since I'm on my BB in a beach in goa) that claims that gmail users are smarter and wealthier than yahoo or hotmail users. This could be because the gmail userbase hasn't trickled down to the unwashed masses who aren't your typical early adopter. But, wahtever, assuming the hypothesis is true, I'd imagine a lot more false clicks on the this is not spam; or more commonly people who don't even bother deleting the spam from their inbox. I also agree with Thaths. Cheeni On 7/6/07, Thaths [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 7/6/07, Ved Prakash Vipul [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am sure relative competencies (gmail vs yahoo) play a big role, but yahoo has a larger attack surface - they have been around much longer and hence spammers have more target addresses @yahoo and are also more familiar with their AS approach, dev cycles, etc. #include not-speaking-for-my-employer.h True. And I also suspect that either because of Yahoo's larger userbase or because they have walled themselves into a particular system architecture there is a sizable delay between when I mark something as spam and when yahoo's mx servers start treating similar incoming email as spam. As hserus pointed out, google's server farm is of legendary proportions. And the anti-spam guys at Google are some of the smartest people I have worked with. Both of these mean that there is a smaller delay between when I mark something as spam and when similar mails start getting detected as spam. I don't think Yahoo's problems are purely technical in nature. Some very smart people work at Yahoo. I suspect that making radical changes to a mature service is not very easy. And that is what is keeping Yahoo from being better at spam detection. Thaths -- Homer: He has all the money in the world, but there's one thing he can't buy. Marge: What's that? Homer: (pause) A dinosaur. -- Homer J. Simpson Sudhakar ChandraSlacker Without Borders
Re: [silk] IPhone - Thoughts?
Unlocking an iphone doesn't get you the whole package iirc. There are features such as visual voice mail that require special iphone support on the telco side. Have your friends in India thought that one out? Also, are they willing to pay the contract early termination fee that must be at least another 200 bucks? Cheeni On 7/6/07, VaibhaV Sharma [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Jun 29, 2007, at 6:28 AM, Binand Sethumadhavan wrote: I saw this in one of my RSS feeds: http://www.forbes.com/2007/06/19/iphone-security-risk-tech-security- cx_ag_0619iphonesecurity.html (or http://tinyurl.com/2huxru). What is the general opinion? We were at a local apple store at around 6 pm on the launch day and here is what we saw - http://vsharma.net/downloads/iphone_launch_wash_sq_mall_oregon.3gp These people had been in the line since 6am. Fifteen minutes later, we could just walk in the store and grab one. The ATT tie-down is definitely a restricting factor but as it is with every popular product with restrictions, options to circumvent those will be available soon - http://iphoneunlocking.com/ http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2007/07/01/iphone-unlocked-accidently/ And I already have multiple friends in India pestering me to get them a piece through some channel so that they can start enjoying the social benefits of a $600 brick. I said, how will you unlock it? They said, that we will figure out. Everything is possible in India. Heh. Usage wise, the device is beautiful to Apple's standards. Apple has set a new standard with the combination of components they chose for the device. Some details - http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2007/07/01/igot-an-iphone-initial- impressions-and-reflections-part-3/ Competition is trying hard though and this is a good one from the carrier - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/05/technology/circuits/05pogue.html? emex=1183780800en=9b1df670af399cecei=5087%0A This service would fit perfectly with an iPhone. But *sigh* it dosen't. I am one of those who turned in a Blackberry for a far more useful Sony Ericsson P990i. Same here. I got a (freakin unstable) Treo 680 when it launched and I wish I had not spent the money on it. I still love my Nokia E50. Does gps, basic pda and phone calls. Has a better hands free speaker than any other device I have used. I love it. More likely this kind of article is coming from shills trying to undermine the iPhone even before it is launched (Rob Enderle is quoted in the article), but Gah! They try. Everyone wanted a piece of the publicity of the iPhone. I know people who said - Gah! iPhone, too restricted. Can't write apps for it. Won't work. And now the same people are saying I told you so. Web apps for mobile phones, the best idea in the world. I told you so. what do you think of the iPhone? Love it but don't want it. At least not this version. -- VaibhaV Sharma http://vsharma.net
Re: [silk] OpenMoko - Thoughts? (was Re: IPhone - Thoughts?)
OpenMoko and H.323 or SIP - now that's something. Cheeni On 7/10/07, Aditya Chadha [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Has anyone seen/used one of the FIC 1973 / OpenMoko phones? It sounds like a very viable alternative to the closed apple/att hell. Cheers, Aditya On 7/9/07, VaibhaV Sharma [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Jul 7, 2007, at 1:36 AM, Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: Unlocking an iphone doesn't get you the whole package iirc. There are features such as visual voice mail that require special iphone support on the telco side. Have your friends in India thought that one out? Yes I know the details. People don't care as long as they can show off the iPhone and can make / receive calls on it. Also, are they willing to pay the contract early termination fee that must be at least another 200 bucks? What contract? You walk into any apple / ATT store and buy an iPhone. Bring it home, unlock it and do whatever you want with it. The contract / termination fee comes in the picture if you activate it with an ATT plan. As of now, people have figured out how to use the media player (ala iPod) part of the phone without activating the phone part of it. There was a slashdot story on that today? BTW, there seems to be some problem with ATT for the past two days. People leave voicemails for me and I never get a notification. Also, through the weekend, it took me atleast 5 tries to make each phone call. There is definitely something going on with ATT's network. Maybe its just a NW US thing. -- VaibhaV Sharma http://vsharma.net -- Aditya (http://aditya.sublucid.com/)
[silk] A gift from Gandhi
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/10/AR2007071002055_pf.html A Gift From Gandhi Frustrated Green Card Applicants From India Use Methods Of Master By Xiyun Yang Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, July 11, 2007; D01 Shyam Bindingnavale had spent years of anguish in pursuit of permanent residency, so when the government offered him an opportunity to apply for it and then abruptly snatched it away, he was furious and deeply disappointed. Bindingnavale, 36, a Gaithersburg resident and financial analyst working here on an H1B visa for skilled technical workers, struck back the most effective way he could imagine: He sent flowers to Emilio Gonzalez, the director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. So did about 200 other green card applicants, most of them professionals, natives of India and working legally in this country. They did it because that's what Gandhi would have done. Yesterday, their bouquets of purple roses, pink lilies and yellow daisies, which cost about $40 each and which were sent from all over the country, piled up on the immigration office's loading dock at 20 Massachusetts Ave. NW, addressed to Gonzalez and stacked in columns taller than people. The agency forwarded them to soldiers recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. We know the reason behind it and understand the symbolism. We donated them in the same spirit in which they were provided to us, said an agency official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of a lawsuit over the matter filed by an advocacy group. The idea for the protest began with the Indian immigration community on the online forum Immigration Voice, a site devoted to issues facing skilled, legal workers seeking permanent residence in the United States. Their method was inspired by Mohandas K. Gandhi, who spent years campaigning nonviolently for India's independence from Britain. Green card applicants were given hope on June 12, when the State Department posted a bulletin offering H1B visa holders who had been stuck in a bureaucratic logjam an opportunity to take that last step needed to apply for permanent residency. Thousands of engineers, doctors and other educated foreigners began a mad scramble to file their applications before the July 2 deadline. Vacations were canceled, and lawyers were called in. Elderly parents in far-flung corners of the world stood in line for hours to get copies of birth certificates and immunization records. Then, on the day of the deadline, the State Department retracted the bulletin. The USCIS, which processes the applications, said it had already met its 140,000-person annual quota for employee-sponsored applicants. Those who tried to apply were told they had to wait. Some new applications may be considered again starting Oct. 1, but others may have to wait for years. The wait has become even longer after a surge in green card applications, amplified by a provision in 2001 that allowed undocumented immigrants or immigrants who had overstayed their visas to apply for green cards. The problem was exacerbated by the increased FBI security checks required after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Only someone with the saddest mind can do this, said Ashish Mundada, 31, an information technology consultant who works in New York City. Mundada had persuaded his wife to cancel a trip back to India for a sister's wedding to take advantage of what seemed like a brief window of opportunity. Mundada, like many other protesters, said he did not want any favors, just that his application be fairly considered. The flowers were inspired by a popular Bollywood film, Lage Raho Munnabhai, in which the main character turns to the ways of Gandhi to solve his problems. The movie has stirred Indians at home and abroad to try to emulate Gandhi, who died in 1948, a year after India achieved independence. The only way to get the other party to acknowledge your grief is to do something nonviolent, to show some compassion, said Bindingnavale, who works for MedImmune. But in America, lawsuits and hearings also hold sway. Crystal Williams, deputy director for programs at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, suspects that there may still be open slots in the annual green card quota. They lied. That's the simple part of it. They lied to keep from having to take these applications, Williams said. The association's sister organization is filing a lawsuit to force the government to accept the filed applications. The system is deeply broken, Williams said. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Citizenship, Refugees, Immigration, and Border Security, says she plans to hold a hearing on the issue and is pressing USCIS to accept the recently filed applications. They have really messed this up, she said. The Department of Homeland Security is not known for overarching efficiency, but this is a new low. Businesses are also unhappy. Many depend on the highly
Re: [silk] A new car for £30
On 7/16/07, Abhijit Menon-Sen [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: At 2007-07-16 12:57:36 +0530, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: And Zimbabweans were a lot friendlier and pleasant than the Batswana I was living among at the time. Say, have you read Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books? If so, did you enjoy them? I read it not too long ago off of my wife's collection, and just gifted her the remainder of the series for her birthday. Cheeni
[silk] Readings on Indian History
I am working my way through History Of The Tamils: From the Earliest Times to 600 AD, by P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar [0]. It's mostly informative and interesting, yet, considering that it was written in 1929 in about a year, I can't really claim it's a seminal authoritative work of many years, and unfortunately it is probably one of the few authoritative books on the subject that I have come across. Progress and faith are hampered by the author's habit of making unsupported claims. Yet, as I am discovering in the absence of data, one tall claim is as good as any other. Are there any well researched books on the subject of ancient South India? How much of a problem is my almost total lack of knowledge of Sanskrit? Cheeni [0] http://books.google.com/books?id=ERq-OCn2cloCamp;dq=pt+srinivasa+iyengaramp;printsec=frontcoveramp;source=web
Re: [silk] Readings on Indian History
On 7/19/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] A classical example is the state of Rwanda. Thanks for taking the trouble. I presume you have been to Rwanda - because that is the thing required for credibility isn't it? Ashok seems to travel a lot around those parts, I dare say the answer is yes? Cheeni
Re: [silk] YouTube - TN State success story of Suse linux migration
On 7/20/07, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I showed this video to the people in my office (mixed demographic, some govt. staff) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_g72GcaIdc most people found the video fascinating not just for its content but for the dramatic style, background music, special effects and the way people appeared and spoke on the video :) Their dialogues were clearly scripted, and most of the speakers seemed distinctly uncomfortable and seem to have trouble repeating them from memory. This is certainly impressive, and Umashankar seems to have done a lot for the cause of Linux in government, but stuff like that ATM is a looong time away. I'd say more, but this is an open list, so can't. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Rapture
On 7/30/07, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 7/29/07, Binand Sethumadhavan wrote: thousand years, so I don't think we need to worry much that Kalki is around the corner waiting for us sinners :) [...] school is an ardent follower of this chap. Apparently the world is coming to an end in 2012. Start preparing your doomsday bunkers.. It's not that hard to start a doomsday cult; after all most people get philosophical when they are sad; and it's not hard to weave a theory about the world coming to an end - which is especially attractive to people who have lost all hope. The funny thing is Darwin's law kicks in and the suicide / doomsday cultists seem to off themselves before they can really spread the philosophy. Actually, it won't be such a bad thing if the world ceased to exist; it would be interesting; almost fulfilling like reading the ending of a seemingly endless book. Cheeni
Re: [silk] As Medical Patents Surge, So Do Lawsuits
On 7/30/07, Charles Haynes [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 7/29/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sunday 29 Jul 2007 8:30 pm, Venkatesh Hariharan wrote: [...] Patents are intended to increase sharing of knowledge. Indeed, and all best intentions can be made into a mockery. Are you saying that patents are an unquestionable good thing (TM)? Cheeni P.S. It is possible to get recognition for your efforts without holding a patent as the GPL has proven in a somewhat limited context.
Re: [silk] save energy with blackle
On 7/30/07, Rishab Aiyer Ghosh [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: apparently, Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-hours a Year. www.blackle.com Old news by now I would have thought. Anyway; this only applies to CRTs where the screen has been maximized. Also, it makes no allowance for usability related productivity loss which would be quite significant. Cheeni
[silk] Disruptive Banking networks
Ripple is an open-source software project for developing and implementing a protocol for an open decentralized payment network. In its extreme form, the Ripple network could be a peer-to-peer distributed social network service with a monetary honor system based on trust that already exists between people in real-world social networks. On the other hand, it could be an extension of the existing hierarchical banking system, providing alternate payment routes that do not pass through a central bank. Modern monetary systems are built on obligations of the participants to each other. Cash and bonds are government obligations, and loan agreements are the personal obligations of borrowers. Bank account balances are bank obligations, backed by borrower and government obligations. For an obligation to have value, the holder must trust that the issuer can supply that value. Thus the banking network can be described as a trust network. The primary method of making payment to another participant in the system is by transferring ownership of bank obligations electronically over a chain of accounts in the banking network from payer to recipient. The banking network is essentially hierarchical, with banks acting as sole intermediary between its account-holders, and central banks acting as sole intermediary between banks. This structure means that it is simple to route payments to and from any participants, but is inherently full of single points of failure, which may also be characterized as single points of control. The core idea of Ripple is that it should be possible to route payments through an open, arbitrary trust network, similar to how the the internet routes packets of data through an open, arbitrary computer network. The advantages of such a system would be that it wouldn't be reliant on a small decision-making body at the center to set monetary policy for the entire nation; instead, it would be set in a more democratic fashion by all participants, and in theory be more responsive to regional and community needs. There would be no need to for a tightly-regulated institutional trust hierarchy to control the behaviour of those participants near the center: like the internet, but unlike the existing global monetary system, the Ripple network would be designed to weather the collapse of a large number of its nodes. Note that the Ripple protocol itself wouldn't preclude a hierarchical payment structure evolving, it just allows for the possibility of other structures. Put another way, Ripple is a system of free banking that separates the payment routing function from the credit aggregation function. http://ripple.sourceforge.net/
[silk] Beginnings of an intuitive sketch + simulate environment
Research project at MIT that offers a basic simulation environment via a sketching application with some knowledge of elementary physics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZNTgglPbUA Cheeni
Re: [silk] Organizing a conference like TED in India
On 8/2/07, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: sriram balasubramaniam wrote: All the Silksters meet in India. Two things... 1. We are known as Silk-listers, methinks. 2. We already do FOU except for the big hoo-haa and sponsors. But seriously, I think a TED-like conference would really not be silk-like. FoU, I would attend... And why is TED a good thing? I always felt the banner about a collection of the world's finest minds coming under one roof that runs at the beginning of every TED talk to be kind of unwarranted, and not in good spirit. That did put me off TED. Cheeni
Re: [silk] FoU v3
On 8/3/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: savita rao [03/08/07 11:27 +0530]: Suggestions for locations: http://www.silveroakfarm.com/ http://www.farmweekends.com/nandih.php silklister bala's got a place near ooty that might come in handy http://www.greenhotelindia.com/ A nice place for a large gathering. On the other hand, I can arrange the place in Coonoor once again if it's going to be a small gathering. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Fwd: [jivika] Fwd: [indiathinkersnet] Bangalore: The rising divorce rate in the IT sector
On 8/5/07, Kiran Jonnalagadda [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Viewing the computer for long hours has proven to cause impotency, says Pramila Nesargi, chairperson of the Karnataka State Women's Commission. We are a transition generation; the husbands want to be like their fathers, the wives thankfully don't have to take it like their mothers - they are financially free. Stress, lack of time at home, yada yada yada is just icing on the cake. The next generation will IMO handle this much better. Cheeni
[silk] I want the earth + 5%
http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html Very nicely put together. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Chaos makes better business sense
On 8/9/07, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] So doesnt this MRP protect the consumer in some way? Indeed, I think all we need is a bug fix that allows stating the minimum retail price as well, so we know the seller's profit margin. Selling this idea to the retailers though will be tough. After all, in a perfect world it would be quite possible to charge extra for a value addition like late hours or a convenient location. This is really about busting information asymmetry. By the same coin, employers should publish everyone's salary like the government does since employees are only compensated on merit. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Chaos makes better business sense
On 8/10/07, Neha Viswanathan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] MRP. Like if you go upto Ilaka from Dharamshala, the guy sells Parle G for about two rupees above the MRP, and you don't really mind it. The only way to get stuff up there is on donkeys - trekking for five to six hours. (This was six years back and things may have changed.) And then there is government subsidy - I've bought goods well below MRP in remote parts of Sikkim. Cheeni
[silk] So it's finally happening?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6939757.stm World shares fall on credit fears Stock indexes have fallen sharply again on Friday, a day after markets in the US and Europe suffered heavy losses amid fears of a global credit crunch. Billions of dollars were wiped off share values, affecting businesses and individual investors alike. Shortly after opening the Dow Jones share index in New York was down 124.8 points, or 0.9%, at 13,145.9 points. London's FTSE 100 share index fell 3.1%, the Paris Cac index was down 3% and Germany's main Dax fell 1.6%. Analysts say the crisis could make it harder for banks, firms and consumers to get access to loans and cash. If this persists, it could lead to a global recession. [...]
Re: [silk] Invisible India is the elephant in your bedroom
On 8/20/07, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: One aspect, that I am surprised he didnt cover is the issue of smaller and smaller land-holdings because of inheritance. You have a farmer who started with 20 acres, had five sons, each was left with a less viable 4 acres... and so on and they all end up working in a back alley in a city... This is probably an issue related to land reforms, making farming land more easily available I think that's been a fairly well trodden path since the days of co-operative farming in communist states. I don't claim it's a non-issue, but merely a well understood one. That state policies still allow this to happen is a statement on how ineffective the general level of governance is in India. My favorite data point here is the benefits transfer statistic of the public distribution system as documented by innumerable sources - it is less than 1/4th of the budget allocation. One of the points that really needs more publicizing in the post liberalization India is the current state of information disparity - the case in point being his example of two neighboring pieces of land being sold for vastly different sums. Cheeni Cheeni
Re: [silk] Invisible India is the elephant in your bedroom
On 8/20/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Rishab Aiyer Ghosh [20/08/07 08:48 +]: at what? his point was that they are very expensive, and israeli agriculture based on them wouldn't survive without massive US aid. it's drip irrigation kits arent exactly expensive.. and comparatively simple tech, easy to fabricate locally at a fraction of the cost. You've of course heard of toilet seats that cost a fortune in a government budget. When you are importing something that can be manufactured locally for a fraction of the cost, that is the inefficiency that I believe is being pointed out. Cheeni
Re: [silk] How I Became a Programmer
On 8/20/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] Udhay, who is still mildly puzzled that he never turned into a coder Mac coding isn't coding? Or do you mean a coder in the open source world? Cheeni
Re: [silk] Another n00b
Take over the world eh? (mental note to self - I am not alone). So what would you like to do when the world is your oyster, and you can shuck it? :) Cheeni On 8/22/07, Chandrachoodan Gopalakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I'm new on this list, though not new to the list. I'm Chandru, a copywriter. I worked for a while (and grew up) in Chennai, and have recently moved to Dubai. I make a complete fool of myself at first. And when enough people have ignored/overlooked me, I take over the world. That's right. C -- http://www.flickr.com/photos/ravages http://www.selectiveamnesia.org/ http://chennai.metblogs.com +91-9884467463
Re: [silk] Introduction
By letting the computer do the work for you, and not reading every email that flows in. Oh, and ubiquitous access to email - i.e. blackberry. ~Cheeni - 155 lists and counting... On 8/23/07, Anil Kumar [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: HI Jim! I am curious no, really!. How do you manage going through 200 lists, participate and also have time for your work (and family / kids / friends (or all), hobbies, shopping and other general things in life). Anil KUMAR On 8/23/07, Jim Grisanzio [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From: Jim Grisanzio [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: silklist@lists.hserus.net Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2007 14:36:57 +0900 Subject: Re: [silk] Introduction Venky TV wrote: Hey Jim, Welcome to Silk! We've talked often on the OpenSolaris mailing lists. Indeed. I'm on something like 200 lists now. That's why I figured I needed just /one/ more ... I'm just not busy enough, I guess. :) Jim -- http://blogs.sun.com/jimgris
Re: [silk] For You Mac OS X/Gmail Users...
I've liked it so far, but it's going to be shareware when it comes out of Beta, the betas are time-limited too but are nag free. I don't think I will pay to keep it when it goes into handcuffware mode - not enough features there. It's susceptible to Safari and webkit bugs of this there are many from time to time. Cheeni On 8/25/07, Casey O'Donnell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I just recently started using a program called Mailplane for OS X. It is a Gmail client that's goal is to be just a bit more Mac-ie than Gmail is generally. I got onto the closed beta and have invites for 5 others now. I like it so far. It also makes having multiple gmail accounts easier too. You can read about the app here: http://mailplaneapp.com/ If you're interested, let me know. Casey -- Casey O'Donnell RPI STS Department - PhD Candidate http://homepage.mac.com/codonnell/
Re: [silk] For You Mac OS X/Gmail Users...
BTW, the invites aren't strictly necessary - the URL for the app and the password are rather easy to guess or share. Cheeni On 8/25/07, Casey O'Donnell [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I just recently started using a program called Mailplane for OS X. It is a Gmail client that's goal is to be just a bit more Mac-ie than Gmail is generally. I got onto the closed beta and have invites for 5 others now. I like it so far. It also makes having multiple gmail accounts easier too. You can read about the app here: http://mailplaneapp.com/ If you're interested, let me know. Casey -- Casey O'Donnell RPI STS Department - PhD Candidate http://homepage.mac.com/codonnell/
[silk] In BLR for a week
I'm going to be around from tomorrow till the 4th (weekend excluded - away at a training session). Udhay has confirmed that he'll be ready for lunch or dinner, any one else? Cheeni
Re: [silk] Illustrated Coffee Guide
On 8/27/07, Biju Chacko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 8/27/07, Sriram Karra [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 8/27/07, Gautam John [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What do you reckon is the best coffee chain in Bangalore/India. Or Hotel Saravana Bhavan might not be as hep, cool, or rocking as the coffee shops mentiond in this thread. However, if the objective is to seek out a place which knows the most effective way to deliver the right dosage of caffeine in a coffee cup (davara and tumbler, in this case), let it be known that HSB has few peers. And talking of confusing menus - the HSB coffee list has two items - Coffee, and Mini Coffee. Beat that. I have to admit there isn't much to beat a good South Indian filter coffee. This may get me excommunicated but I also think that, in general, you get better coffee in Madras than Bangalore. Chicory laden south Indian coffee is not gourmet coffee by a long shot. Too sweet and too milky, I mostly swore off that stuff a long while ago. It was probably as good as it got for me when all I had for comparison was the awful nastiness of nescafe, bru and the cinema espressos. Quite often we had no clue what went into the coffee powder, coming from a Leo or Narasus coffee chain, you were lucky if there were any real coffee beans in it. I still like the coffee my mother makes, but I think it has more to do with memories of growing up with it, than any gourmet factor. Once I got a taste of rich and fruity Java Kenyan beans and the intricacies of coffee making I was not going back to Narasus. It turned out to be too much of a good thing, I developed a caffeine addiction, and I had to painfully wean myself off caffeine, dropping down to a normal one or two cups a day. Since moving back to India I've had to do with local peaberry and robusta. Most Indian plantations don't seem to grow any other varieties. I grew up in the hills, where I used to harvest coffee beans from our home garden and help out in getting them dried, roasted and brewed. Now that was exciting, but I am not sure if it ever could be termed gourmet coffee. Unlike Charles, I gave up on convincing the kitchen staff at work to not pre-grind ginormous quantities of the beans every morning. Anyway, I don't much like the beans that are used at work; I've turned to drinking more chai these days. I get my beans from Coffee Day ground in my presence. My apartment is right next door to one of their stores, I usually buy a week's supply at a time. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Illustrated Coffee Guide
I agree with the points you make, and no, not all South Indian Coffee is chicory laden. However, most variations of South Indian coffee contain chicory. Chicory was introduced into South Indian Coffee because real coffee beans were very expensive, and chicory was an acceptable substitute. It's possible that as a result of the close proximity to the Baba Budan hills, and the ensuing coffee growing culture, Mysore coffee didn't need to adulterated. My folks still prefer the chicory version, that's all they've had all their lives. I really wouldn't be able to convince them to try a darker, bitter coffee. To each his own. Cheeni On 8/28/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Tuesday 28 Aug 2007 12:40 am, Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: Chicory laden south Indian coffee Not all South Indian coffee is chicory laden. The effect achieved by one's just like another chain outlets is to kill variation in favor of promoting brand names that taste like mud. Like someone said a lot of coffee does taste like mud - because it's ground. Apart from the quality of the beans, the actual coffee extract is highly temperature dependent with the volatiles apparently being ideally extracted at about 87 to 90 deg C. Lower or higher temperatures extract other volatiles in greater proportions changing the taste. For me personally - I have found that the best coffees get made using certain equipment. Standard filters (manual or electric) are the worst if you are stingy in the amount of coffee you load into them, and there can be a lot of variation unless you are careful. They work out more expensive in the long run. Italian Neapolitana filters that require manual inversion after the water boils are among the best. Probably in between are the Expresso coffee makers - either the manual (twin truncated cone) type or the electric one that I currently use. For Mysore coffee the steam outlet is best reserved for simply letting out steam and depressurizing the boiler and nothing else. It's an otherwise useless appendage. However, froth created by pouring the coffee from one container to another has useful flavor enhancing properties. The quality of milk too is important for Mysooru coffee - and ideally it should be boiled beforehand, and preheated milk added to hot coffee decoction. Reheated coffee is a disaster. shiv
Re: [silk] a new rodent
I currently use - across my various computers, 1. Logitech VX Revolution Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks (very smooth tracking - glides) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HCRVUS 2. Apple wired Mighty Mouse (bad for gaming as Jace observed - don't really recommend this to anyone - there are cheaper, better mice, IMO) http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/StoreReentry.wo?productLearnMore=MB112LL/A 3. Logitech MX500 Optical Mouse (Really nice for most uses) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B6HZ0K and, on my primary desktop, 1. Microsoft Natural Ergo Keyboard 4000 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000A6PPOK/ I am considering getting an ergonomic vertical mouse, specifically an Evoluent v3 http://www.ergopro.com/index.cfm?obj=prodDetailspID=439 Shiv, does the vertical mouse really make sense - by looking at the twisted bones on the catalog pic, it certainly looks like the vertical mouse will help. Cheeni On 9/3/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Monday 03 Sep 2007 3:34 am, Shyam Visweswaran wrote: I suppose what you mean is that you took a standard right handed mouse and started using it with the left hand without switching the button Precisely functions. Does that mean that left handers may have less RSI since most of the time they just use a regular mouse and move it to the left side to use it with the left hand? I don't know the answer to that one, but... Then I got an ergonomic rodent which esentially moves your hand from the standard pronated position (plan down) to the semi-pronated position (handshake position). Your point about semi-pronation versus forced pronation is an interesting and important one that I did not think of. A neutral mouse that is not designed for right handers forces you to pronate your right hand when you use your index finger to left-click. The same mouse, with no button switching, allows you to use your longer middle finger for left clicking (as I indicated earlier) but importantly - it automatically allows your left hand to remain semi-pronated. Surely that plays a role in comfort. Of course there are a couple of other aids that I use. Single clicking in Linux reduces the number of clicks by perhaps 30-40%. And despite using an optical mouse, I use a mouse pad with a cushion to rest my hypothenar eminence (part of the heel of my hand for the rest of you folks :) ) shiv
Re: [silk] a new rodent
On 9/4/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Abhishek Hazra [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: what about a stylus+pressure sensitive tablet? No fans of a thinkpad's clitmouse? There was a time when I was a fan - I used to even win at Quake using it. But it's been some time since I've moved away from it, I don't think I am going back. Cheeni
[silk] How To Make A Microserf Smile
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_37/b4049065.htm?chan=technology_technology+index+page_top+stories Also see, http://no2google.wordpress.com/2007/06/24/life-at-google-the-microsoftie-perspective/ http://minimsft.blogspot.com/ http://minimsftindia.blogspot.com/ How To Make A Microserf Smile While Google was turning heads with its employee perks, an unlikely manager took on morale in Redmond Steven A. Ballmer had an epic morale problem on his hands. Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT ) stock had been drifting sideways for years, and Google envy was rampant on the Redmond (Wash.) campus. The chronically delayed Windows Vista was irking the Microserfs and blackening their outlook. So was the perception that their company was flabby, middle-aged, and unhip. Ballmer decided he needed a new human resources chief, someone to help improve the mood. Rather than promoting an HR professional or looking outside, he turned to perhaps the most unlikely candidate on his staff, a veteran product manager named Lisa Brummel. No one was more stunned than Brummel. The 47-year-old executive is about as un-HR as you can imagine. She shuns business books (her taste runs to historical nonfiction); she takes the bus to work (using the 20-minute ride to zone out); and her wardrobe (shorts and sneakers) is in flagrant violation of the HR fashion police. When Ballmer floated the HR job in April, 2005, Brummel said: No way. But Ballmer wasn't about to take no for an answer. Picking up a traveling golf putter, the Microsoft chief started taking it apart as he barreled around Brummel's office, hammering home why she was the perfect candidate. As an outsider unsullied by HR dogma, he said, she'd bring a fresh approach. Besides, Ballmer argued, Brummel was hugely popular and had the people skills to get the job done. The two went back and forth, with Ballmer slapping Brummel's whiteboard for emphasis and Brummel parrying with: But I love doing products. After more than two hours, Ballmer ended the meeting. By then the putter was in pieces. Sorry about the golf club, he said. Brummel was deeply conflicted. She had built a solid career developing software, getting customer feedback, launching it, and then making revisions. HR was foreign territory. Yet she loved Microsoft and recognized the internal challenges that the company was facing. By the next morning, she had relented. She called Ballmer and told him: I'm in. Over the next two years, Brummel tore up Microsoft's HR playbook. In the process, she has begun to sculpt a new HR that is junking a one-size-fits-all approach for a system tailored to the needs of individual employees. In Brummel's HR, her people are supposed to act less like cops and more like concierges. With Microsoft's dormant stock, Brummel can do only so much to boost morale. But her approach seems to be resonating. She has made the annual performance review more equitable, introduced new perks, including a service that sends doctors to employees' homes in cases of emergency, and won plaudits for making HR—once widely considered a shadowy politburo—more transparent and consultative. From the beginning, says Julie Madhusoodanan, a lead software tester in the Windows division, Lisa was all about 'We're here to serve you.' TOWEL TUMULT Like many revolutions, the one at Microsoft began with a political miscalculation. One day in the summer of 2004 employees arrived to discover that the towels had vanished. Long provided in locker rooms adjoining the company's underground garages, they were a decidedly threadbare perk. But for the legions who cycled to work through the Seattle drizzle, the towels had become an entitlement. Now they were gone, yanked by some faceless HR functionary bent on saving, as one employee put it, like, 0.01% of earnings per share. HR manager Anne Ensminger thought the towels' disappearance wouldn't even be a blip. Instead, irate employees mobbed blogs and message boards. One post ranted: It is a dark and dreary day at One Microsoft Way. Do yourself a favor and stay away. Inside HR, the rank-and-file rebellion was deemed ridiculously over the top. It was like we were taking away 90% of their base salary, says Ensminger. But the vociferousness of the attacks shocked senior executives. Management knew morale was bad.After all, many employees' options were under water. And Google Inc. (GOOG ) was getting all the press as a paradise with free food and cushy perks. But Microsoft offered its own gold-plated bennies—free health care, for one—that actually put Google's largesse in the shade. Why was this not registering with employees? Why had turnover crept up from 6.7% in 2002 to 9.4% by 2004? Ballmer needed to make a big statement. So he named Brummel HR chief and telegraphed to employees that she would be his consigliere of happiness. STRAIGHT SHOOTER With Brummel, Ballmer had the maverick he was looking for. From an early age, she was always giving things her own twist, like
Re: [silk] clit mouse
On 9/5/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I first heard the term on silk when I read that message on this list. I don't think the person who coined the term actually knows what a clit looks like What do you expect, it was probably a geek! Cheeni
Re: [silk] a new rodent
On 9/6/07, Biju Chacko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] For a while last year I looked around for a desktop keyboard that incorporated a **trackpointer** but gave up. I can't figure out why it's not more popular than it is. http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-4WKSWX.html http://static.flickr.com/97/243189524_b54eaa0f65.jpg IBM has made quite a few models of desktop keyboards which include a trackpoint (and touchpad in more recent models). They are unfortunately expensive as far as keyboards go. Cheeni
[silk] The coming age of magic
I recommend reading through the PDF presentation first, it makes the rest of the content parseable. Interesting idea - even if it does look like a stretch. ~Cheeni http://www.orangecone.com/archives/2006/10/the_coming_age.html http://www.orangecone.com/archives/2006/04/how_to_make_a_m_1.html http://www.orangecone.com/dorkbot_magic_0.1.1-2.ppt.pdf
Re: [silk] Cybercafes to have keystroke loggers
On 9/11/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] You are claiming that you weren't able to plough through the links. But I am claiming that these links actually do offer a refutation of your thesis. Is that not enough incentive? Or are you just taking the piss here? I think Shiv furthered the thread meaningfully by asking for a summary. I've been following the thread with some interest, but I really can't imagine myself being motivated to read through lots of linked text to get your argument. I for one am now more motivated to wade though your links in the light of your summary. Cheeni
Re: [silk] A good way to cite wikipedia entries
Wikipedia supports permanent links to specific revisions, like so http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hardware_random_number_generatoroldid=156233868 Cheeni On 9/21/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Via the cryptography list, an object example in how to cite a wikipedia entry: See the section on Software whitening in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_random_number_generator (which was correct as of when I looked at it, a few minutes before the timestamp on this email; check the Wiki history to be sure). Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
[silk] James' blunt edge
All that late night partying in Ibiza has definitely robbed him of his song. He'll sell copies this time too alright, but he's headed in Britney's foot steps. http://music.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,2168236,00.html James Blunt, All the Lost Souls Alexis Petridis Friday September 14, 2007 The Guardian Vast success traditionally has an alienating effect on rock stars. Fame and wealth removes them from the real world, insulating them from public opinion. You would be forgiven for assuming such a fate had befallen James Blunt. Two years into his recording career, he lives in an Ibizan mansion with a nightclub in its basement, paid for with the proceeds of the biggest-selling album of the 21st century thus far: his debut, Back to Bedlam, has shifted 14m copies. If you believe the gossip columns, his life seems to primarily consist of getting his aristocratic leg over with celebrity hotties: Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Mischa Barton, Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and a Pussycat Doll, names that rather suggest intellectual profundity may not be uppermost in the former Household Cavlary officer's check-list of feminine prerequisites. But despite the rarefied lifestyle, news has clearly reached Blunt that a lot of people seem to hate both him and his music. Me and my guitar play my way, he wails, midway through Back to Bedlam's follow-up, on a song called Give Me Some Love. It makes them frown. It's difficult to know how upset Blunt is by the adverse reaction to his success. He certainly sounds upset: he sings Give Me Some Love in a tremulous warble, replete with pregnant pauses, suggestive of brimming eyes and quivering lips. But then James Blunt sings everything like that. The tremulous warble replete with pregnant pauses is his default vocal setting. Live, he has tremulously warbled the Pixies' visceral Where Is My Mind? and tremulously warbled Supertramp's jaunty Breakfast in America. In the admittedly unlikely event that Back to Bedlam's follow-up contained a cover of Boney M's Hooray! Hooray! It's A Holi-Holiday!, he'd tremulously warble that as well. Nevertheless, Give Me Some Love offers further evidence of the effect the opprobrium has had on the singer. It seems to have brought on a debilitating attack of dyslexia. Won't you give me some love? he sings, adding bafflingly: I've taken shipload of drugs. Perhaps a shipload is like a shitload, only bigger, evocative of the vast container vessels that sail the world's seas. Perhaps he's substituted the letter t with p for reasons of probity: this is, after all, an artist beloved of censorious Middle England. Or perhaps his detractors are right and it doesn't mean anything. Perhaps it's just a crock of ship. Still, not even his loudest detractors could call him sloppy. As befits a former military man, All the Lost Souls is a model of ruthless efficiency. A crack team of co-writers has been assembled: his collaborators have variously worked with Britney Spears, Dr Dre, Robbie Williams, and - rather more pertinently, cynics might suggest - Daniel O'Donnell and James Last. The results are slick. It would be churlish to deny that One of the Brightest Stars has a nice tune, or that there's something compulsive about the piano riff of I'll Take Everything. Occasionally, however, Blunt appears to be following a successful formula a little too mechanically for his own good, as if he's ticking boxes. A song about the end of a relationship that implies the other participant may be dying: check. Song pondering the ramifications of Blunt's role in the Kosovo conflict: check. Song that attempts to assert Blunt's love of music by making slightly clanging references to classic rock: check. Elsewhere, songs ruminate about celebrity, among them the deeply peculiar Annie, on which the titular heroine's failure to achieve fame is bemoaned -Did it all come tumbling down? - and Blunt, gallant to the last, offers her the opportunity to fellate him as a kind of consolation prize: Will you go down on me? More bizarre still, he offers her the opportunity to fellate him in the kind of voice normally associated with the terminally ill asking a doctor how long they've got left: tremulous, replete with pregnant pauses, suggestive of brimming eyes, etc. The overall effect is so bizarre that it overshadows anything Blunt may have to say about the fickle nature of fame. You come away convinced that the song's underlying message is: give me a blow job or I'll cry. But then, as has been established, Blunt always sounds like that, which may be All the Lost Souls' big problem. If you sing about killing a man, as Blunt does on I Really Want You, in precisely the same voice you use to sing about fellatio, it's bound to have an emotionally levelling effect: you're going to come across as if you don't mean any of it. And perhaps that, rather than his class or his looks or his success, is the reason so many people dislike James Blunt. There's something weirdly insincere about what he does.
[silk] Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8ll=20.203568,79.375534spn=0.793892,0.549316z=11om=1 http://www.google.com/search?q=Tadoba+Andhari+tiger+reserve Has anyone been there? I am spying a 4 day weekend coming up, and so I imagine a drive down from Hyderabad (350+ kms) won't be a bad idea. How are the roads to get there? Aditya? Cheeni
Re: [silk] Tadoba Andhari tiger reserve
Do you have a recommendation for places to stay at? Things to do? Unlike the bigger game reserves like Kanha and Ranthambore there's not much information online. Cheeni On 9/24/07, savita rao [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: the roads were allright, not great, about a year and half back. it's a lovely reserve.. there is supposed to be a good population of tigers, but tiger-spotting is not all that common (unlike ranthambhor and kanha) s On 9/24/07, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8ll=20.203568,79.375534spn=0.793892,0.549316z=11om=1 http://www.google.com/search?q=Tadoba+Andhari+tiger+reserve Has anyone been there? I am spying a 4 day weekend coming up, and so I imagine a drive down from Hyderabad (350+ kms) won't be a bad idea. How are the roads to get there? Aditya? Cheeni
[silk] India tries outsourcing its outsourcing
This is not a complete surprise to most on the list I am sure, but it is the most emailed story on IHT today. Cheeni [image: International Herald Tribune] http://www.iht.com/ http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/09/24/business/outsource.php India tries outsourcing its outsourcing By Anand Giridharadas Monday, September 24, 2007 http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/business.iht.com/article;cat=article;sz=336x280;ptile=2;ord=123456789? *MYSORE, India:* From across India, thousands of recruits report to the Infosys Technologies campus here in India's deep south. Amid the manicured lawns and modern buildings, they learn the finer points of software programming. But lately, packs of foreigners have been strolling the campus. Many are Americans, recently graduated from college. Some had been pursued by coveted employers like Google. Instead, they accepted a novel assignment from Infosys, the Indian technology giant: Fly here to learn programming from scratch, then return to the United States to work in the Indian company's back office. Now India is outsourcing outsourcing. One of the constants of the global economy has been companies moving tasks - and jobs - to India, where they could be done at lower cost. But rising wages for programmers here, a strengthening currency and companies' need for workers in their clients' time zones or for workers who speak languages other than English are challenging that model. At the same time, India is facing increased competition from countries seeking to emulate its success as a back office for wealthier neighbors: China for Japan, Morocco for France and Mexico for the United States, for instance. Looking to beat back these new rivals, leading Indian companies are opening back offices in those countries, outsourcing work to them before their current clients do. Many executives in India now concede that outsourcing, having rained most heavily on India, will increasingly sprinkle tasks across the planet. The future of outsourcing, said Ashok Vemuri, an Infosys senior vice president, is to take the work from any part of the world and do it in any part of the world. In May, Infosys's Indian rival, Tata Consultancy Services, announced a new back office in Guadalajara, Mexico; it already has 5,000 staffers in Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Cognizant Technology Solutions, with most of its operations in India, has now opened back offices in Phoenix, Arizona, and in Shanghai. Wipro, another Indian company, has outsourcing offices in Canada, China, Portugal, Romania and Saudi Arabia, among other locations. Last month, Wipro said it was opening a software development center in Atlanta that would hire 500 programmers in three years. In a poetic reflection of the new face of outsourcing, Wipro's chairman, Azim Premji, told Wall Street analysts this year that he was considering hubs in Idaho and Virginia, in addition to Georgia, to take advantage of states which are less developed, Premji said. Infosys is building an archipelago of back offices - in Mexico, the Czech Republic, Thailand and China, as well as in low-cost regions of the United States. The company wants to become a global matchmaker: Any time a company wants work done somewhere else, even just down the street, Infosys hopes to get the call. It is a peculiar ambition for a company that symbolizes the flow of tasks from the West to India. Most of Infosys's 75,000 employees are Indians in India, and they account for most of the company's $3.1 billion sales in the year that ended March 31, from clients like Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. India continues to be the No. 1 location for outsourcing, S. Gopalakrishnan, the company's chief executive, said in a telephone interview. And yet Infosys is quietly stringing together a necklace of global outsourcing hubs, where local workers work with little help from Indian masters. The company opened an office in the Philippines in August and, a month earlier, bought back offices in Thailand and Poland from Royal Philips Electronics, a Dutch company. Infosys's Indian outsourcing experience taught it to cut up a project, apportion each slice to the suitable worker, double-check quality and then export a final, reassembled product. The company believes it can clone its Indian back offices in unfamiliar nations and groom Chinese and Mexicans and Czechs to be more productive than local outsourcing companies could make them. We have pioneered this movement of work, said Gopalakrishnan. These new countries don't have experience and maturity in doing that, and that's what we're taking to these countries. Some analysts compare the strategy to Japan's penetration of automaking in the United States in the 1970s. Just as the Japanese learned to make cars in America without Japanese workers, Indian vendors are learning to outsource without Indians, said Dennis McGuire, chairman of TPI, a consultancy based in Texas that focuses on outsourcing. For now, work that bypasses India remains a
Re: [silk] new sleep research
On 9/26/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] Study author, Professor Francesco Cappuccio from the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School said the study involved over 10,000 civil servants from the Whitehall II Study and investigated the link between patterns of sleep and mortality rates in the group. A study on sleep using civil servants in Whitehall? Heh, someone behind that study had a sense of humor :-) Cheeni
[silk] PK media spin on cricket clash
So, this is a news story about a stupid fight that broke out over a cricket match. And it turns into spin fodder *sigh* what a twisted world... http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iWN1RZzNuIpgbwkAhWssTblwf7Ag versus http://www.dawn.com/2007/09/26/top18.htm Dawn - the Pakistani newspaper quoting the same AFP release drops parts about the Muslims provoking the Hindus, the part about Jammu being a Hindu majority city and disputed Himalayan region becomes occupied Kashmir. There's probably more - but I am too pissed off to notice - this is a deliberate twisting of facts. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Speaking of audiophilia....
On 10/2/07, Gautam John [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: James Randi Offers $1 Million If Audiophiles Can Prove $7250 Speaker Cables Are Better $7250 buys a lot of weed - the effects are better I am told. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Fascism?
On 10/3/07, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] Of course she should be allowed to write. Of course it was an opinion piece. It may have some truth in it. But it is misleading and the gullible believe it to be the truth. If they believe in the rapture, this is much more believable. Call me gullible, I found the piece believable. The right wing think tanks have some pretty wild ideas, I wouldn't put it past some of them to dream of a right wing dictatorship. The only recent conspiracy I've been witness to is what M$ did to Linux via SCO and the patent scare. Thank goodness that one ended well. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Fascism?
On 10/4/07, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thursday 04 Oct 2007 3:05 pm, ashok _ wrote: AIDS actually originated from an american polio vaccine trial gone wrong. Isn't the polio vaccine designed to make Muslims infertile? Timba! Cheeni
Re: [silk] 1 lakh car spurs environment worries
On 7/1/07, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: http://www.reuters.com/article/basicindustries-SP-A/idUSDEL17439320070627?pageNumber=1sp=true India's people's cars spur green nightmare fear Wed Jun 27, 2007 12:33AM EDT IHT covered it today, with some updated information and a wider market coverage. http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/12/business/12cars.php In India, a $2,500 pace car By Heather Timmons Thursday, October 11, 2007 NEW DELHI: A revolution is taking place in India that could change what most of the world drives. Next fall, the Indian automaker Tata Motors is scheduled to introduce its long-awaited People's Car, with a sticker price of about $2,500. Hot on its tail may be as many as half a dozen new ultra-affordable vehicles — some from the world's leading carmakers, including Toyota and Renault-Nissan. With a median age of just under 25 and a rapidly expanding middle class, India will overtake China next year as the fastest-growing car market, according to estimates by CSM Worldwide, an auto industry forecasting service. To tap that emerging market, automakers are starting to respond to Indians' desire for small and cheap cars. As a result, car companies are coming up with new ways to develop and build automobiles worldwide. Ask one billion people, and 99 percent of them are going to say they want a car, said Jagdish Khattar, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, the country's largest car manufacturer. The problem is, How many can afford it? For a long time, only a few carmakers in India concerned themselves with that question. The small-car market in this country is dominated by Hyundai Motors India, Tata and Maruti Suzuki, which is a joint venture between Maruti of India and Suzuki of Japan. Maruti Suzuki has more than 50 percent of the car market, thanks to models already as low as 195,000 rupees (about $5,000). Now, foreign carmakers are entering the competition, increasing pressure to make cheaper yet appealing cars. From June to September alone, Skoda, a subsidiary of Volkswagen, said it would start making and selling the Fabia, its small car, in India; Toyota's chairman, Fujio Cho, said his company might introduce a new small car to India; Ford Motor executives said they were studying the situation; and Renault-Nissan announced it would set up an engineering and design center, adding to previous plans to build a plant in India. Renault-Nissan — a car-building alliance between Renault of France and Nissan of Japan — has been talking with local scooter maker Bajaj Auto about building a cheap car that analysts say could cost as little as $3,000. Hyundai is adding a new small car model to its existing line and doubling its local production, and Honda is planning a small car tailored to the Indian market. On Thursday, Fiat stepped up a partnership with Tata, announcing a 50-50 joint venture to make cars, engines and transmissions in India for the domestic and overseas markets. India differs from giant slow-growth and no-growth auto markets like the United States and Western Europe, and even from fast-growing markets like China, in that the emphasis is on small, low-cost cars — but with four doors, not two, and room for the extended family. While the Indian upper classes are snapping up roomier models and even imports like Mercedes-Benz, first-time buyers will provide a big chunk of growth for years to come. By 2013, CSM predicts, India's market will expand an average of 14.5 percent a year, compared with just over 8 percent for China. CSM estimates that in 2013, the Chinese will buy 10.8 million cars, compared with 3.8 million in India, but says there is already a glut of local and foreign manufacturers in China, making India a more attractive long-term market. If global manufacturers can figure out how to make small, cheap cars in India, they are expected to start exporting them to other fast-growing markets where the proportion of car ownership remains small — places like Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But first they have to conquer this market. A. T. Kearney, an international management consulting firm, estimates that a car with a $3,000 list price could attract 300 million buyers in India by 2020. Of course, forecasters were bullish on China for decades before its growth finally took off. And economic upheaval or political change could stall India's expected growth, too. But the millions of Indians who will buy cars are likely to agree with Shuchita Bagga, who bought her first auto in July. Budget was the most important thing, said Bagga, 26, a trainee in human resources who earns about 375,000 rupees a year (about $9,500) and paid a little more than 235,000 rupees ($6,000) for it. I'm not in a position to buy a big or an expensive car. In addition to new economy types like Bagga, car manufacturers are looking at India's approximately 65 million scooter owners, mostly men. Currently, entire families commute on scooters, with the man of the
[silk] A matter of humanity
Fort Hunt's Quiet Men Break Silence on WWII Interrogators Fought 'Battle of Wits' By Petula Dvorak Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, October 6, 2007; Page A01 For six decades, they held their silence. The group of World War II veterans kept a military code and the decorum of their generation, telling virtually no one of their top-secret work interrogating Nazi prisoners of war at Fort Hunt. When about two dozen veterans got together yesterday for the first time since the 1940s, many of the proud men lamented the chasm between the way they conducted interrogations during the war and the harsh measures used today in questioning terrorism suspects. Back then, they and their commanders wrestled with the morality of bugging prisoners' cells with listening devices. They felt bad about censoring letters. They took prisoners out for steak dinners to soften them up. They played games with them. We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture, said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess. Blunt criticism of modern enemy interrogations was a common refrain at the ceremonies held beside the Potomac River near Alexandria. Across the river, President Bush defended his administration's methods of detaining and questioning terrorism suspects during an Oval Office appearance. Several of the veterans, all men in their 80s and 90s, denounced the controversial techniques. And when the time came for them to accept honors from the Army's Freedom Team Salute, one veteran refused, citing his opposition to the war in Iraq and procedures that have been used at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. I feel like the military is using us to say, 'We did spooky stuff then, so it's okay to do it now,' said Arno Mayer, 81, a professor of European history at Princeton University. When Peter Weiss, 82, went up to receive his award, he commandeered the microphone and gave his piece. I am deeply honored to be here, but I want to make it clear that my presence here is not in support of the current war, said Weiss, chairman of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy and a human rights and trademark lawyer in New York City. The veterans of P.O. Box 1142, a top-secret installation in Fairfax County that went only by its postal code name, were brought back to Fort Hunt by park rangers who are piecing together a portrait of what happened there during the war. Nearly 4,000 prisoners of war, most of them German scientists and submariners, were brought in for questioning for days, even weeks, before their presence was reported to the Red Cross, a process that did not comply with the Geneva Conventions. Many of the interrogators were refugees from the Third Reich. We did it with a certain amount of respect and justice, said John Gunther Dean, 81, who became a career Foreign Service officer and ambassador to Denmark. The interrogators had standards that remain a source of pride and honor. During the many interrogations, I never laid hands on anyone, said George Frenkel, 87, of Kensington. We extracted information in a battle of the wits. I'm proud to say I never compromised my humanity. Exactly what went on behind the barbed-wire fences of Fort Hunt has been a mystery that has lured amateur historians and curious neighbors for decades. During the war, nearby residents watched buses with darkened windows roar toward the fort day and night. They couldn't have imagined that groundbreaking secrets in rocketry, microwave technology and submarine tactics were being peeled apart right on the grounds that are now a popular picnic area where moonbounces mushroom every weekend. When Vincent Santucci arrived at the National Park Service's George Washington Memorial Parkway office as chief ranger four years ago, he asked his cultural resource specialist, Brandon Bies, to do some research so they could post signs throughout the park, explaining its history and giving it a bit more dignity. That assignment changed dramatically when ranger Dana Dierkes was leading a tour of the park one day and someone told her about a rumored Fort Hunt veteran. It was Fred Michel, who worked in engineering in Alexandria for 65 years, never telling his neighbors that he once faced off with prisoners and pried wartime secrets from them. Michel directed them to other vets, and they remembered others. Bies went from being a ranger researching mountains of topics in stacks of papers to flying across the country, camera and klieg lights in tow, to document the fading memories of veterans. He, Santucci and others have spent hours trying to sharpen the focus of gauzy memories, coaxing complex details from men who swore on their generation's honor to never speak of the work they did at P.O. Box 1142. The National Park Service is committed to telling your story, and now it belongs to the nation, said David Vela, superintendent of
Re: [silk] A matter of humanity
On 10/13/07, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Fort Hunt's Quiet Men Break Silence on WWII Interrogators Fought 'Battle of Wits' Missed the URL - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/05/AR2007100502492.html
Re: [silk] How the US house judiciary committee protects whistleblowers
On 10/28/07, Suresh Ramasubramanian [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: ... or doesn't. I don't normally forward /. trash along, but in my defense, I saw this link elsewhere, by which time it appears heavily /.ed. So you still read /. ? huh... Cheeni P.S. I figured that there'd surely be other comments about the news worthy parts of Suresh's message, but reading /. is well interesting. I thought not too many did that these days.
Re: [silk] How the US house judiciary committee protects whistleblowers
On 10/29/07, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 10/29/07, Eugen Leitl [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] I used to live on reddit, but it's gone all to shit in hyperexponential time. They now even killed my.reddit.com, and recommended is full of crap as ever. I can't believe we still don't have a personal news service in end-2007. I stopped reading reddit when they decided they were too grown up for nsfw.reddit.com Ok so on a lark I clicked the link gmail made out my comment on nsfw.reddit.com - it works. I guess they decided sex sells afterall eh? Cheeni
Re: [silk] A Wireless Revolution in India
On 10/29/07, Gautam John [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 10/29/07, Kiran Jonnalagadda [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: It's not much better on Airtel EDGE. 1.5 - 3.0 kB/s is the norm. The network and handset are technically capable (EDGE multislot class 10) of over 10 kB/s. Oh. In which case, why? Why do they give us such pathetic speeds? I assume with iPhone bound for India, the operator who bags the rights will have to increase speeds. I can't see Apple releasing their phone on a network with such low data speeds. In which case, the rest of can look forward to better internet speeds. Unless they tie the improved speeds to the iPhone only... I don't think the iPhone wave will hit India as powerfully as it invaded the US. Indian carriers unlike their US counterparts probably won't bend over backwards to accomodate the iPhone. There are many who already have an iPhone here in India, (I decided against getting one, eve though there are half a dozen users in my office alone) and they are quite happy using it over wifi. Cheeni
[silk] Capsaicin Tested On Surgical Wounds
To satisfy Udhay's capsaicin fetish... http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/30/196215 Science: Capsaicin Tested On Surgical Wounds Posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 31, @09:18AM from the that-smarts dept. Ponca City, We Love You writes Bite a hot pepper, and after the burn your tongue goes numb. The Baltimore Sun reports that Capsaicin, the chemical that gives chili peppers their fire, is being dripped directly into open wounds[1] during highly painful operations, bathing surgically exposed nerves in a high enough dose to numb them for weeks. As a result patients suffer less pain and require fewer narcotic painkillers as they heal. 'We wanted to exploit this numbness,' says Dr. Eske Aasvang, a pain specialist who is testing the substance. Capsaicin works by binding to C fibers called TRPV1, the nerve endings responsible for long-lasting aching and throbbing pain. Experiments are under way involving several hundred patients undergoing various surgeries, including knee and hip replacements using an ultra-purified version of Capsaicin to avoid infection. Volunteers are under anesthesia so they don't feel the initial burn. [1] http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.peppers30oct30,0,1228065.story
Re: [silk] Capsaicin Tested On Surgical Wounds
No, these are two different stories. The story you point out refers to the use of capsaicin in combination with a type of lignocaine to prevent pain, with trials expected in 2 years, whereas the /. story I sent refers to an ongoing experiment with multiple patient trials using pure capsaicin to numb nerve endings for weeks at a time. Cheeni On Oct 31, 2007 1:45 PM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 10/31/07, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: To satisfy Udhay's capsaicin fetish... http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/30/196215 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/silk-list/message/22307 :-) -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] To FOU or not to FOU
Udhay urged me to post to this thread on Saturday evening, right after he called to take my reading on the matter, but I was feeling nice and disconnected from email, and I didn't have the will to trot over to a keyboard of any sort. In the light of the emails thus far, it looks like this crowd might support a low effort location like Fireflies over BR hills. My two bits are that if I am in Bangalore for the weekend, I am coming there solely for this camp, so I don't care where we are headed - both locations sound nice to me. I think BR hills will be more fun for sure, but I am not very excited about adding a 7 hour commute on top of a flight from HYD to BLR. Cheeni On Nov 11, 2007 11:14 AM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Danese Cooper wrote: [ on 01:07 AM 11/11/2007 ] Okay, so now I must book my airline tix for trip to India. I still haven't seen consensus on FOU (when, where, to what extent???). Well - I've been meaning to post about this for a while now. Thanks to Danese for prodding. Dates: Dec 1-2 (Saturday and Sunday, in other words) Venue: 2 venues are frontrunners so far, we need to pick one. possibility 1: do it in Fireflies once again. pro: easy to reach (~1hr from Bangalore), easy to book, low cost (~ Rs 500/head/day) con: been there, done that possibility 2: BR Hills pro: forest surroundings, safari included in price, Kallu can get us a 10% discount con: will need to drive 3.5 hours to get there each way, need to book in advance (which means we need to know exactly how many people are coming, IN ADVANCE), costs (Rs 1500/head/day) A show of hands, please? Who's coming, and which location do you prefer? If I don't see a clear preference for BR Hills by EOD Monday Nov 12, I think we will make it in Fireflies. I am re-using the FoU wiki that Thaths set up last year (I just removed around 1.5 MB of spam links) - please post there to reflect your availability and preferences: http://fou.openscroll.org/ Thanks, Udhay -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] To FOU or not to FOU
Questions, questions JLR? Are you suggesting a 4th venue? JLR == Jungle Lodges Resort? Could you give us more information - perhaps a link to a website? Danke, Cheeni On Nov 12, 2007 12:42 PM, Deepa Mohan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I would certainly say (whether I am able to come, or not)...don't go to BR Hills over the weekend. If wildlifing is going to form part of your activities, the tourist crowd at weekends will ensure that it will not be a good trip. And if wildlifing is NOT going to be a focus, then no point in adding to the tourist crowd. One can get as much of the forest ambience in, say, the JLR properties at Bandipur, Bheemeshwari, Galibore or somewhere that is much closer to Mysore. In fact, Bheemeshwari, on the banks of the Kaveri, is a lovely property, and hardly a 2 hour to 2 and a half hour trip...the road to the place leads through the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary, as well. If you do decide on any JLR property, and since Kalyan is not here from Thursday ondo let me know. The same 10% discount can be done. Deepa. On Nov 12, 2007 11:19 AM, Ramakrishna Reddy [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Nov 11, 2007 11:14 AM, Udhay Shankar N [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Danese Cooper wrote: [ on 01:07 AM 11/11/2007 ] Okay, so now I must book my airline tix for trip to India. I still haven't seen consensus on FOU (when, where, to what extent???). Well - I've been meaning to post about this for a while now. Thanks to Danese for prodding. Dates: Dec 1-2 (Saturday and Sunday, in other words) Venue: 2 venues are frontrunners so far, we need to pick one. possibility 1: do it in Fireflies once again. pro: easy to reach (~1hr from Bangalore), easy to book, low cost (~ Rs 500/head/day) con: been there, done that possibility 2: BR Hills pro: forest surroundings, safari included in price, Kallu can get us a 10% discount con: will need to drive 3.5 hours to get there each way, need to book in advance (which means we need to know exactly how many people are coming, IN ADVANCE), costs (Rs 1500/head/day) A show of hands, please? Who's coming, and which location do you prefer? I'm in. Open to both locations , BR hills seems more interesting. but will be helluva travel over the weekend. regards -- Ramakrishna Reddy GPG Key ID:31FF0090 Fingerprint = 18D7 3FC1 784B B57F C08F 32B9 4496 B2A1 31FF 0090
[silk] Encrypted E-Mail Company Hushmail Spills to Feds
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/encrypted-e-mai.html Interesting, though not exactly surprising. Also, http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9741357-7.html Cheeni
Re: [silk] Cutting-edge research...
Nothing surprising there - original Indian academic research even in our greatest universities is a rare phenomenon. I've had to include the name of a professor of mine and his friend, a professor at another college as authors in a college research paper I independently wrote. To my knowledge this professor and his friend had no expertise in any of the subjects on which me or their past students had published papers. Indian academia is mostly a cesspool of corruption and dishonesty. Cheeni On Nov 7, 2007 5:20 PM, Binand Sethumadhavan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I saw this blog link from another blog that I read: http://horadecubitus.blogspot.com/2007/10/great-minds-think-alike.html If anyone knows Swedish, an approximate translation of this: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=597a=699836 will be much appreciated, I'm sure. Binand
Re: [silk] Cutting-edge research...
I haven't made sweeping generalizations - nowhere have I said that all Indian research is bogus. However there is a tendency in many institutions towards letting plagiarism go unchecked - which affects the quality of research produced. That each of us on this list knows one or two institutions that hold themselves to higher standards doesn't mean we don't also know many that couldn't care less for integrity in research. I am pretty confident that a majority (i.e. mostly) of Indian research is suspect of varying degrees of academic dishonesty. Cheeni On Nov 12, 2007 11:01 PM, Anish Mohammed [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Cheeni, From my experience, I have worked in two in india ( IISc, Indian Stastical Insitute(Cryptology research group)). This might not a be fair statment to make, possibly too much of a generalisation, Indian researchers do produce outstanding work even when they are in India :-). regards Anish On Nov 12, 2007 2:52 PM, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Nothing surprising there - original Indian academic research even in our greatest universities is a rare phenomenon. I've had to include the name of a professor of mine and his friend, a professor at another college as authors in a college research paper I independently wrote. To my knowledge this professor and his friend had no expertise in any of the subjects on which me or their past students had published papers. Indian academia is mostly a cesspool of corruption and dishonesty. Cheeni On Nov 7, 2007 5:20 PM, Binand Sethumadhavan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I saw this blog link from another blog that I read: http://horadecubitus.blogspot.com/2007/10/great-minds-think-alike.html If anyone knows Swedish, an approximate translation of this: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=597a=699836 will be much appreciated, I'm sure. Binand
Re: [silk] Cutting-edge research...
So am I - my opinions are subjective, but I fear they are somewhat very close to the truth. I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this count. Cheeni On Nov 12, 2007 11:16 PM, Anish Mohammed [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Cheeni, I could only comment on my experience :-(. regards Anish On Nov 12, 2007 5:40 PM, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I haven't made sweeping generalizations - nowhere have I said that all Indian research is bogus. However there is a tendency in many institutions towards letting plagiarism go unchecked - which affects the quality of research produced. That each of us on this list knows one or two institutions that hold themselves to higher standards doesn't mean we don't also know many that couldn't care less for integrity in research. I am pretty confident that a majority (i.e. mostly) of Indian research is suspect of varying degrees of academic dishonesty. Cheeni On Nov 12, 2007 11:01 PM, Anish Mohammed [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi Cheeni, From my experience, I have worked in two in india ( IISc, Indian Stastical Insitute(Cryptology research group)). This might not a be fair statment to make, possibly too much of a generalisation, Indian researchers do produce outstanding work even when they are in India :-). regards Anish On Nov 12, 2007 2:52 PM, Srini Ramakrishnan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Nothing surprising there - original Indian academic research even in our greatest universities is a rare phenomenon. I've had to include the name of a professor of mine and his friend, a professor at another college as authors in a college research paper I independently wrote. To my knowledge this professor and his friend had no expertise in any of the subjects on which me or their past students had published papers. Indian academia is mostly a cesspool of corruption and dishonesty. Cheeni On Nov 7, 2007 5:20 PM, Binand Sethumadhavan [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I saw this blog link from another blog that I read: http://horadecubitus.blogspot.com/2007/10/great-minds-think-alike.html If anyone knows Swedish, an approximate translation of this: http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=597a=699836 will be much appreciated, I'm sure. Binand
[silk] Anyone on Dopplr?
http://www.dopplr.com/traveller/cheeni In case anyone is on it... -- Cheeni Q: Why is this email 5 sentences or fewer? A: http://five.sentenc.es/
Re: [silk] Anyone on Dopplr?
Done On Nov 15, 2007 3:36 PM, Venkat Mangudi [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: Srini Ramakrishnan wrote: http://www.dopplr.com/traveller/cheeni In case anyone is on it... Udhay is for sure. So am I. If any of you want invites, just ask. An invite would be nice. Thank you -- Cheeni Q: Why is this email 5 sentences or fewer? A: http://five.sentenc.es/
Re: [silk] FoU camp - logistics
On Nov 27, 2007 2:38 PM, Biju Chacko [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] But seriously, Koramangala, BTM Layout or JP Nagar are on my route -- any of those would work for me. /me reserves seat on Biju's automobile - pickup location to be confirmed over voice channel Cheeni
Re: [silk] home book cataloging software ?
http://books.aetherial.net/wordpress/ Is free, and looks reasonably good. http://www.pure-mac.com/collect.html has a list of more collection managers. Cheeni On Dec 2, 2007 2:45 PM, ashok _ [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am looking for such a software preferably free, not an online service, and which runs on either linux or mac os x... any suggestions ? ashok -- Cheeni Q: Why is this email 5 sentences or fewer? A: http://five.sentenc.es/
[silk] The Valley song
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fi4fzvQ6I-o Here comes another bubble (sung to the tunes of Billy Joel's We didn't start the fire) -- Cheeni Q: Why is this email 5 sentences or fewer? A: http://five.sentenc.es/
[silk] Lights turn red for stunned Delhi jaywalkers
http://in.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINIndia-30854320071206?pageNumber=3virtualBrandChannel=0sp=true Lights turn red for stunned Delhi jaywalkers Thu Dec 6, 2007 2:10pm IST By Jonathan Allen NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pedestrians don't cross the Indian capital's chaotic streets so much as dash across as if their life depends on it, which it very often does. More than 900 pedestrians a year fail to make it to the other side, killed by the city's lawless drivers. So police decided on Wednesday it was time to start enforcing a 27-year-old rule against jaywalking. The result was puzzlement and sometimes anger from people for whom dicing with traffic death is a fact of Indian urban life. At six busy New Delhi intersections on Thursday, police officers grabbed jaywalkers by the arm, issued them tickets, and made them pay 20-rupee fines before explaining the idea of waiting patiently for the lights to change. We have to run, the lights don't turn green long enough for us to cross, said D.K. Bhargav, an angry, 57-year-old office worker, fearlessly confronting an officer with his complaint. And in other places there's no crossing at all. Speak to the government and say, 'Kindly build us a crossing,' was the policeman's advice. In the city's Connaught Place commercial district, a troop of men in woolly jumpers, smart shoes and trousers were hastily painting a new zebra crossing. Then police reinforcements arrived and, for the first time that anyone could remember, made about 50 pedestrians line up and wait patiently on either side of the road while traffic rushed by, smearing the still-drying paint. People giggled self-consciously, smiling at those on the opposite curb. During a pause in the traffic someone tried to break ranks and dash across, but a whistle-blowing policeman intercepted him, making everyone laugh. How would a villager know about these lights? There are no traffic lights in their villages, said Constable Suresh Sharma, who thought that the widespread rule-breaking was partly due to Delhi's large population of rural migrants. Our aim is not to prosecute people, our aim is to educate them, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat explained by telephone. But not everyone who was fined took away the correct message. Next time I'll be watchful, said Vasant Pant, a 20-year-old courier late making his deliveries. I'll look to see if there's a traffic policeman before crossing. Some offenders, like Sachin Chaudry, a young, late-running bank executive, quickly handed over their fine and their details without even interrupting their cellphone calls. Others were more evasive. I don't have the money, pleaded Ankita Khurana, a nervous-looking 18-year-old student. Then you'll have to go to jail, the policeman replied. She suddenly remembered she had change in her bag. But another jaywalker -- a scrawny man in unwashed clothes -- seemed to be telling the truth. This is all I have, he pleaded, holding out five rupees. The enraged policeman took this as an insult, waving a finger in his face before pushing him back the way he came. Next time don't cross without a green light, he snarled. (Additional reporting by Onkar Pandey)
Re: [silk] Wikipedia
On Dec 10, 2007 9:43 AM, shiv sastry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [...] In fact many educated Hindus chose this route to avoid being asked to answer uncomfortable questions about Hinduism. Wearing Hindu symbols like a large tilak on one's forehead or admitting to openly practicing Hindu ritual is quite often an invitation to being clubbed with Right wing Hindus. And that description Right Wing Hindu has been defined in the last few posts of this thread. By carrying that statement to its logical end, I'd say Hindus are not alone - the Muslims fear being dubbed hardcore radicals if they wear traditional Islamic attire, and the Christians fear being termed as proselytizing missionaries when they wear the cross and carry a Bible. IMO, there are blander followers of every religion, and it isn't for fear of retribution, but because religion and it's attendant symbols and rituals aren't as strong an anchor in people's lives as they used to be. For much the same reason I am not the card carrying, GNU-tshirt-wearing Linux hippie I used to be. Cheeni
Re: [silk] Open Source Evangalism
On Dec 10, 2007 12:42 PM, Kiran Jonnalagadda [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On 10-Dec-07, at 11:11 AM, Suresh Ramasubramanian wrote: If you do put XP in there stick in as many anti spyware, malware, virus etc tools as you can, harden it some. Public library PCs tend to pick up trojans and such at an alarming rate In particular, you'll want to use Microsoft SteadyState. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/ default.mspx Bad Microsoft products seem to pick up new names like a dog picks up fleas. The last time I saw this it was called Shared PC or Public PC or some such. Cheeni
[silk] Terry Pratchet
Ouch! http://www.paulkidby.com/news/index.html AN EMBUGGERANCE Folks, I would have liked to keep this one quiet for a little while, but because of upcoming conventions and of course the need to keep my publishers informed, it seems to me unfair to withhold the news. I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of early onset Alzheimer's, which lay behind this year's phantom stroke. We are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism. For now work is continuing on the completion of Nation and the basic notes are already being laid down for Unseen Academicals. All other things being equal, I expect to meet most current and, as far as possible, future commitments but will discuss things with the various organisers. Frankly, I would prefer it if people kept things cheerful, because I think there's time for at least a few more books yet :o) Terry Pratchett PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above that this should be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some future point, as will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think - it's too soon to tell. I know it's a very human thing to say Is there anything I can do, but in this case I would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain chemistry. -o-
[silk] Explaining the urban housing market in India
While this paper is really not aimed at India, the phenomenon described seems to be an acceptable explanation for the real estate prices in urban India. Interestingly, it also sets forth an estimate of the bubble's longevity. http://www.efficientfrontier.com/ef/405/housing.htm
[silk] Indian Wine
Are there any recommendations? I find anything else too expensive and too hard to find. I prefer the Grover Cabernet-Shiraz but perhaps there's something better? Cheeni
Re: [silk] Kochi or Kabini
On Dec 17, 2007 2:13 PM, Madhu Menon [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Biju Chacko wrote: [...] Kerala is a nice place to visit but I'd hate to actually live there. I'm probably biased though. ;-) I concur. :) Reasons?
